Rock & Roll Movies
You will find these DVDs arranged by call number in the DVD area on the second floor. Click on the image for information from the Internet Movie Database.
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The Kids are Alright
This 1979 documentary follows the Who around on an
American concert tour (Keith Moon's last before his
untimely death) and includes footage from live
performances, interviews, and television appearances
from throughout their career.The DVD features a new
high definition transfer of the original directors cut
(unavailable since the initial release).
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Quadrophenia
Acclaimed British director Franc Rodham adapted the Who
rock opera into this gritty coming of age drama about
the tensions between "Mods" and "Rockers" in mid
-sixties England. Sting is featured in his first role
as the suave Mod the other kids idolize.
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Gimme Shelter
A documentary on the Rolling Stones' 1969 American
concert tour and a concert at Altamont Speedway.
Concert promoters hired the Hell's Angels to work
security (paying them with beer...probably not a wise
choice), and an audience member ended up being stabbed
to death as result. Often viewed as the ultimate
documentation of the dark side of the sixties. Includes
appearances by Ike and Tina Turner, Jefferson Airplane,
and the Flying Burrito Brothers.
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The Beatles: A Long and Winding
Road
A multipart documentary series on the history of one of
the most popular bands on all time. Pt. 1. There
are Places I Remember (1940-1958) -- pt. 2.
One & One & One is Three (1958-1960)
-- pt. 3. Hamburg & Herr Epstein
(1960-1962) -- pt. 4. Beatlemania (1963-1966)
-- pt. 5. Love, Litigation & Let It Be
(1967-present)
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A Hard Day's Night
In 1964, the Beatles had just recently exploded onto
the American scene with their debut on "The Ed Sullivan
Show." The group's first feature, the Academy
Award-nominated "A Hard Day's Night," offered fans
their first peek into a day in the life of the Beatles
and served to establish the Fab Four on the silver
screen, as well as to inspire the music video format.
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Yellow Submarine
Bizarre animated fable featuring the Beatles as
superheros out to rescue Pepperland from the music
hating Blue Meanies. Features many popular Beatles
songs including the title tune, Eleanor Rigby,
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, When I'm
Sixty-Four, and Nowhere Man.
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Times Square
The story of two teenage runaways and their rise to pop
stardom. A somewhat romanticized look at punk culture
and the Times Square of the pre-Giuliani era.
Soundtrack features The Talking Heads, The Ramones,
Patti Smith, Gary Numan, Roxy Music, and other icons of
the late seventies alternative scene.
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Suburbia
Gritty, low budget film about punk kids in Los Angeles.
Many claim that this is one of the most honest films
ever made about the hardcore punk movement of the early
1980s. Directed by Penelope Spheeris, who also made the
respected alternative music documentary "The Decline of
Western Civilization".
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Eddie and the Cruisers
In the early 1960's, after one hit album, the leader of
the band, Eddie and the Cruisers, drove his car off a
bridge. Years later, when the songs again become
popular, a former band member, begins a search for the
missing tapes of the unreleased second album.A mystery
film with a soundtrack that led to some minor
mid-eighties fame for The Beaver Brown Band (mostly
because casual listeners confused them with Bruce
Springsteen)
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The Harder They Come
"With a Piece in His Hand He Takes on the Man!" A rural
Jamaican musician journeys to the city of Kingston in
search of fame and fortune. Pushed to desperate
circumstances by shady record producers and corrupt
cops, he achieves notoriety as a murderous outlaw. A
cult movie favorite featuring reggae music and reggae
superstar Jimmy Cliff. A remake is currently in the
works.
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SLC Punk!
Stevo and Heroin Bob are two friends fresh out of
college who sport mohawks and blue hair, listen to
hardcore music, and try to live up to their own
anarchist ideals while figuring out what to do with
their lives in the very un-punk city of Salt Lake City,
Utah.
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The Song Remains the Same
A popular concert film of Led Zepplin's 1973
performance at Madison Square Garden. The live footage
is intercut with fantasy sequences (often
unintentionally funny) that depict the interior lives
of each of the four band members.
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American Graffiti
Four teenagers come of age in 1962 on the last summer
night before they go off to college, jobs, or the army.
George Lucas had his first success with this film that
he described as a "musical". Although none of the
actors actually break into song (other than Harrison
Ford inexplictably belting out a line of "Some
Enchanted Evening") the omnipresent rock and roll
blaring from car radios, drive in restaurants, and sock
hops acts as a Greek Chorus commenting on the attitudes
and action of the characters.
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Saturday Night Fever
The story of a Brooklyn store clerk who is a Saturday
night disco king; he begins to question the narrowness
of his perspective when he becomes influenced by his
more sophisticated dance partner. At its heart this was
an old fashioned big city drama about class conflict,
but the disco fad of the time and the best selling
soundtrack by the Bee Gees turned the movie into a
phenomena in the late seventies.
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Woodstock: 3 days of Peace &
Music
This documentary film captures the unique communal
experience and many of the performances of the most
famous of outdoor rock concerts.
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Purple Rain
Pop star Prince (or is it
 ?) and
his unhealthy obsession with purple dominate this
fictional look at the urban music scene in mid 80s
Minneapolis. Includes all-new documentaries and music
videos.
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Stop Making Sense
A popular, critically acclaimed concert film featuring
The Talking Heads. For some reason, lead singer David
Byrne wears a really big suit.
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True Stories
A look at Virgil, Texas, and its eccentric inhabitants
which include the bachelor who posts a "wife wanted"
sign on his lawn, the world's laziest woman. and a
precision lawn-mower marching team. Starring David
Byrne of the Talking Heads. Soundtrack featrues many
Talking Heads hits including "Love for Sale", "Wild
Wild Life", and "City of Dreams".
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The Last Waltz
The Band, one of rock's superstar groups, decided to
call it quits after sixteen grueling years on the road.
The group held this farewell concert on Thanksgiving
Day, 1976, at San Francisco's Winterland, the site of
their first performance. The performance is
interspersed with interview footage.
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View from the Vault
Live concert recorded at Three Rivers Stadium,
Pittsburgh, PA, on July 8, 1990 and some songs at
Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY on July 6, 1990. See
also
other Grateful Dead audio and video.
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Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of
Wight
Live concert performances of Jimi Hendrix. Message to
love -- God save the queen -- Sgt. Pepper -- Spanish
castle magic -- All along the watchtower -- Voodoo
chile -- Freedom -- Machine gun -- Dolly dagger -- Red
house -- In from the storm.
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Pink Floyd The Wall
A burned out rock performer sits in his motel room
watching war movies, and slowly losing touch with
reality. Alan Parker directed this very literal
adaptation of Pink Floyd's surreal album.
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Hedwig and the Angry Inch
The story of Hedwig, an ambitious transsexual
glam-rocker from Berlin who comes to America determined
to find fame, fortune, and his "other half."
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Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from
Mars
A concert film of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, his
androgynous alter ego; shot in 1973.
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The Adventures of Buckaroo
Banzai
Neurosurgeon/Rock Star/Superhero Buckaroo Banzai's
latest experiments have opened the door to the 8th
dimension--and have unwittingly begun an interstellar
battle for the world. An interesting 80s era attempt to
make a cult movie.
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High Fidelity
Rob Gordon's record store is semi-failing, and his
long-time girlfriend has just walked out on him. In
order to figure out where things went wrong, he
examines his past relationships with other women. Rob's
life has revolved around pop music and he is beginning
to wonder if that is one of his problems. Don't miss
the brief cameo by Bruce Springsteen as Rob's imaginary
mentor.
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Sid and Nancy
Gary Oldman made a name for himself playing punk legend
Sid Vicious in this true story of the Sex Pistols
guitarist and his tortured relationship with drugs,
violence, and his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
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Blue Monday
Produced as a music video for New Order's song Blue
Monday, this witty and dynamic piece fuses Breer's
vivid animation and Wegman's humorous tableaux with his
dog Fay Ray.
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The Eyes Scream: A History of the
Residents
Collection of avant garde musical performances by the
Residents. Performers remain anonymous by performing in
various disguises, usually including giant eyeballs
over their heads. Many unusual reworkings of familiar
pop songs by Elvis, James Brown, etc.
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Heavy Metal
Based on the the adult science fiction fantasy magazine
Heavy Metal. Anthology of animated fantasy tales tied
together by a framing story about a powerful green orb
that changes (or ends) the lives of those who find it.
Featuring music by Blue Öyster Cult (no cowbell), Black
Sabbath, Don Felder, Devo, and more.
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Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon.
Filmed in 1982 in Lagos, Nigeria, the documentary mixes
footage of Fela Anikulapo Kuti performing at his Shrine
nightclub, interviews with the controversial musician,
glimpses of life at his not-so-palatial Kalakuta
Republic compound, and scenes of Lagos street life.
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The Way the Music Died
The modern music scene was created in 1969, at
Woodstock. Half a million fans, dozens of artists, and
the politics of the times came together as a big bang
moment that eventually would generate billions of
dollars. But over the last twenty years, MTV, compact
discs, corporate consolidation, Internet piracy, and
greed have contributed to a perfect storm for the
recording industry. Frontline examines how the business
that has provided the soundtrack of the lives of a
generation is on the verge of collapse.
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This page is maintained by Matt Benzing.